RPlog:Imperial Assault on Caspar
After the initial pummeling given when the bridges over the Sessapan were blown, the Marine defenders of this section of the city almost immediately disengaged, falling back from the banks of the River. Instead, the Marines have been settling for near constant harrassment of the Imperial forces on the opposite side while they awaited the necessary reinforcements to cross the Sessapan. If one were to view the situation from overhead, minus the fog of war (which has been incredibly thick as of late) one would notice that the south bank of the Sessapan is now a no-man's land of rubble, while the CDU perimetre has tightened a little over a km to the south. Somewhere in this no man's land, however, are a handful of recce units, including Webb's hastily assmebled platoon, which has been edging its way north into no-man's land, to seek a position well foreward of the Marine perimetre. As some of his team has since been KIA, MIA, or WIA, he has filled out his ranks as best he can with the available personnel... Other CDU units in the area include the Union Dragoons, an armor/mechanized infantry regiment manning this section of the perimetre. Consisting largely of Hammerhead Tanks, Lynx AFV's in various configurations, and Wraith airspeeders, this unit has the mobility edge over most of the Imperial forces that it could encounter, but is, as most Marine units are, lighter than its Imperial counterparts. Doubtlessly, the Marines also have Close Air Support only a call away... STARFIGHTER: SubPro-CDMC Harpoon -- Royal 5 hurtles low and fast over the battlefield, the shriek of its passing drowning out the din of battle for the troopers it briefly passes. It's fuselage is carbon-scored and hastily patched from near misses and glancing hits, a testament to just how many times this bird has thrown itself at the Imperial Juggernaut threatening Caspar. Casting a shadow resembling an avenging bird of prey, the Harpoon once again engages Caspar's foes, it's twin blaster mounts spitting red death at the approaching troop and armpured unit. Jinking and twisting to evade the massed anti-aircraft fire from the Imperials, the Harpoon lines up a tank in it's sights and deploys a pair of anti-armour missiles from it's underslung launcher, the two dartlike projectiles lancing forward to impale the hapless vehicle and reduce it to fragments of durasteel and molten slag, as the Harpoon afterburns away, the pilot allows it to gain a little height, then waggles it's wings in a cheeky victory posture. For those in the know, a hollow victory indeed, but the pilot is more interested in raising Marine morale than looking at the stats of this battle. It is rather doubtful that Jonathan Webb's definition of 'available personnel' meshed with that of Shenneret Veery. But well, hey, Shenner's not managed to live nearly 20 years without answering the knock of opportunity -- and as she has vigorously claimed to a number of dubious older individuals for several weeks now, anyone who wants to tell her she has no right to be standing up and fighting for her adopted homeworld can take a long walk out a short airlock. Later, perhaps, she'll worry about the consequences of her having 'adopted' Sergeant Sung's field gear, an 'adoption' that took a bit of judicious lockpicking... for now, armed to the teeth with not only the rifle and blaster she's gotten from Webb but also the various goodies stowed here and there in Sung's uniform pockets, Shenner moves as surreptitiously as possible in the back of the ranks of Webb's platoon. Her presence has raised some eyebrows, for she doesn't _move_ quite like Sergeant Sung even though she's about the same size and build. For now, she's gotten around this problem by keeping her conversation as gruff as possible. For now.... Shenner(#3773POACF) This is a young human female, of about 5'6" in height, but of a delicate enough build that there barely seems to be any substance to her. Her skin is moon-pale, her already fine-boned features made pronounced by an utter lack of extraneous flesh anywhere on her face. In stark contrast with her white complexion, her hair blazes a dark red; her green eyes, large, luminous, and darkly limned by red-brown brows and lashes, look out at everything she encounters with a intelligent, haunted intensity. Those eyes, incongruous with her ethereal frame, and taken along with a walk, stance, accent, and mannerisms seemingly more suited for a brash young street tough, exemplify the contradiction that anyone who observes this girl long enough can soon discover: that for all her fragile appearance, this is no delicate flower. Rather, this young human is one that burns. This young woman's present attire belies a more agressive side to her nature, for she is presently attired in the blended slate green and black splotch camouflage typical of the CDU Marines. Her body is covered fully by a one piece coverall of blaster resistant material, thickened slightly about the thigh, shin, forearm, and in other places that don't need the flexibility. The garnment is slightly baggy, affording easy movement, and comes up to just beneath her chin. Her torso is further protected by a rigid, load bearing torso shell, fitted carefully to the dimensions of her frame. This torso shell serves not only to protect her from weapons fire, but also carries the vast bulk of the supplies that she will need in combat. Ammunition, grenades, explosive charges, and other such handy items are kept in easy reach in the chest pockets, while the larger utility pockets about her waist and hips contain bulkier items like a filtration canteen, a medical pack, and other survival gear. Boots, gloves, and a full coverage helmet complete this outfit, with attachment points that can be sealed to render the suit airtight for operating in hostile environments. Her helmet is fitted with an enhanced sensor visor sporting three lenses which gaze out at the world unblinkingly. She is armed. In a sheath that is slung over one shoulder she carries a long, machete-like vibroblade. Her sidearm is stowed in a tactical holster which is strapped about her right thigh, in easy reach should she need it. Her rifle is a CDMC built KXE series bi-polar type blaster, in carbine format for easy use in close quarters. An extended power unit is fitted beneath the receiver, while atop the weapon rests a small electro-optical scope with a laser rangefinder, fitted with a thin cable to relay the information to the heads up display in her helmet. -=-=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=-=- => 6576 Galactic Standard Credits => XiX Blaster Pistol => Protective Vest => Tracker-16 Blaster Rifle Elly looks around cautiously as she quietly steps with the group. Her AA-8 is in hand and held tight. She looks at Athena as she walks with her and asks quietly, "You doing alright?" and takes another careful look around. Athena comes in with the platoon of Webb. She slowly walks at the end of the row onlz being followed bz Elly, being quiet as she concentrates on the upcoming fight and to be sure about her own thougts. Suddenly she does her ritual she learn once back on Coruscant, being one of its guard, as she presses her index finger against her v-axe to draw some blood. Then she draws with the bloody finger three marks on each cheek the symbol of her old combat team. After this martial demonstration that this woman is ready for the fight her rests her v-axe on her right shoulder while the rifles hangs down her left one. Athena sighs deeply wondering again how she ended here but then she simply follows the CDU marine in the line before her , wondering how Sung was so quickly before her, since she had to Azya store awa in her cell. A huge gust of wind sends great amounts of smoke and dust spiralling as a huge battle engineer transport ship lands next to the site of the broken bridge, it's metallic boxy frame already accumulating various small arms blaster scarring that bounce of the hull like rubber. Slowly but surely, ship lowers from a hydraulic arm a huge makeshift replacement section for the bridge forged from solid black durasteel. There is a loud reverberating thud as it is dropped onto the war torn section of the bridge, allowing a new crossing. This seems to happen in perfect timing with the Rapier Squadron of TIE that sceech overhead headlong into conflict with the superior Casparian fighters. The Imperial forces on the other side of the bridge, consisting of copious amounts of walkers both AT-AT and AT-ST as well as floating fortresses and speeder bikes and covering TIE Schimitars, swarms with shiny white ants it would appear from above, however anyone with any experience would know that in this situation fear is more feasible that wonder. The groups streams over the bridge as on cue and before Caspar troops can do anything about it the bridge is all but secured through an authoratitive force of numbers. ST 43rd Legion has already in the defensive position along the side of the river. Now without any warning, the Entre legioned opened fire. Infentry, armor, repulsorlift crafts. Anything that an be fired are firing toward the enemy position. The hurrican made of laser bolts blasted into the opposite side creates a web of debris, smokes. All this is ofcourse designed to cover the engineers. the Simitar Assault Wings charges out of the clouds like avenging angels at the same time as the 43rd Legion opens fire. In a coordinated move they blasted the enmey bank with missile then pull up in almost straight toward the space dear any enemy fighters to follow them into the await imperial fighters. Ken is standing beside Veers in his AT-AT. He pulls the scope to watch the opening shot of the assault, "Very good coordination General" He looks at Veers coldly, "I might admit the navy is losing faith in our IGF botherens for the debacle of the initial assault." ST 10th Legion takes up a defensive position on their side of the river, firing to cover the arrival of the new troops. Their addition to the frail creates more smoke and debris for the time being. Daxin moves back towards the transport to climb into his own AT-ST walker ordering his troops to stand theor ground no matter what the cost. From behind the rows of the Imperials, a single AT-AT can be seen, though surrounding it are a few AT-ST. The small group slowly makes its way towards the rest of the Imperial Force and it seems that the AT-ST's are protecting the AT-AT as best they can. Another small Company of Stormtrooper's arrive, though they seem to be commanded by a figure clad in Black Armor, though the helmet seems to have been discarded somewhere else. The lead walker battalion, headed by the Walker indentified by it's markings as Blizzard 1 advances slowly but steadily, the group of heavy footsteps sending murmurs through the ground that grow ever louder throughout the advance. The group is firing at will in an attempt to knock out the heavier CDU armor that is dug in ahead. The heavy blasters are getting no rest here as they are trained and fire from target to target. One battle tank firing from beside a large rustic building is hit, sending chards of shrapnel in all directions, one of which catches a CDU Troopers as he screams and hits the ground in agony. This onslaught shakes the city and all it's buildings to it's foundations, the deadly advance getting ever quicker. Atop Blizzard 1 Veers eyes remain forward, eyes transfixed. He does not meet Ken's eyes through addresses him coolly, in a low tone of voice tinged with Imperial Old School accent, "We shall reach our objective Commodore Wolf. There is no reason for you to doubt us." It is deathly quiet inside the walker, and the air is stale and cold. STARFIGHTER: SubPro-CDMC Harpoon -- Royal 5 returns to the fray, this time accompanied by two more fighters, obviously reinforcements thrown in to the battle to try and delay the Imperial advance for as long as possible. Over the general broadcast channel, a youthful voice, tinged with fatigue but laced with defiance rasps "Well, well, well.....Caspar Air thanks our gracious Imperials for flying with us, we hope you enjoyed your flight..." He punctuates this by flying over the Imperial troopers moving over the newly laid bridge and dropping hundreds of bomblets onto their massed ranks. "Please leave by the exits indicated by your friendly stewards" His wingman follows suit, trying vainly to stem the white-armoured tide that surges over the bridge like a tidal wave. The two new fighters streak past, ignoring the troopers, their ion cannons blazing and catching tanks and APCs in their blue conflagration, reducing many to immobile and useless hulks, oultined with intermittent ion crackles. Many...but not all....again the Imperial juggernaut seems to throw off the marine aviators attacks like mosquito bites. As the new Harpoons lance up to regain an attack position, they are seemingly swatted out of the sky by a deluge of green death. As the debris and smoke clear, the hideous shriek of TIE engines batters the battlescene as a wing of TIEs swoop by, adding two irreplacable marine pilots to the Imperial kill board. Royal 5 and 6 are as yet untouched, though their withdrawl vectors are considerably less jaunty as the impact of their fellow pilots deaths sink in. Well, she'd always wanted to join the Rebellion when she was a kid. Now than she's flung herself headlong into an actual battle with all the earmarks of the conflicts that so characterized the galaxy-wide conflict between the Empire and the Alliance, for perhaps the second time in her life Shenneret Veery is swept over with a strangely peaceful clarity of mind coming from doing _exactly_ what she'd always wanted to do. Shoulder to shoulder with other young Marines under Webb's command, deliberately putting out the same demeanor of 'I _belong_ here' that she's worn like her 'adopted' armor all her life, Shenner brandishes her rifle with the same determination the 'real' soldiers that surround her exhibit. And like them, she does not hesitate to fire upon the white-armored enemies swarming over the planet that is rightfully theirs. Athenas's first idea was to cry out in shock and surprise as the imperials start their fire with the perfection she is proub about, she just wanted to turn around and tell Elly to admire such perfection as she reminds that there might come a few grenades over to their place, letting her call out a warning before she jumps to the side, diving for cover as she brings the vibro-axe before herself, carefully not to land on it. She looks around, feeling like a fool as nothing happens at all and groans at the pain of the hard landing on her shoulder, really not used to it since years but the moment the adrenaline rushes through her body and the instinct takes control over the mind she forgets about the pain and her doubts. Now it doesn't matter anymore on which side she stands, only the matter to survive and kill like beasts, there is lost the difference between mankind and animals. Commander Calder converses with Webb and she look at the whole scene. Making a universal signal with her hand she comms in to the marines, "Prepare with the grenade launches, we want the whole place fogged up, have your night visors ready." She clips in, her face hidden by her battle armour as the marines. Comming in a few more instructions. She turns and signal to Gunny Sung. The marines in the front drop to their knees and poised the grenade launchers. A burst of fire and a trail of white smoke as smoke grenades were launched into the air, towards the advancing ST covering everything in a white smog. The other marines continue to shoot at the advancing STs and Imperial forces tirelessly. Rodo quickly adjusts his visor, to thermal vision, which allows him to see the enemy in the thick smoke. He brings up his bi-polar carbine, and starts to fire in the direction of the ST's, hoping to help slow their advance on this position. The billowing scent of destruction and battle. It was a perfume that Stalh so often longed to smell once more. The earlier sensation of the brutal war being raged around him, filled his mind like a narcotic and it was that craving that he wants to satisfy by being here now. Now. Among the dead, dying and those that after today would just be another mere statistic. It was here that Stalh relishes beyond all comprehension. It is here where his real self shows through. It is here where the animal is uncaged. Unholstering both of his heavy blaster pistols, he squints as the sun reflexes the glistening glare from an approaching StormTrooper. This trooper, Stalh thinks coldly, will be but the first of many today. Soon, like all others, they will yield to Stalh. He has no doubts of that. And as a single blood red laser lances out like an assassin's blade, the former Imperial turned Republican business man becomes the beast, a man possessed with the destruction of all, except himself. The Imperial War machine, as well oiled as ever advances still, the slow procession of the advance earmarked by the slow, rhymic thud of walker forces. The sky is filled with a black smoke, originating from black areas of scorched earth and the smoking twisted wreckage of both disable machinery and charred human corpses. A dull red glow given off from numerous spot fires all around the battle field give the area an eerie if not apocalyptic glow. The Imperial forces push forward, targeting all in their path, be they military or civilian, they are all the same to the Empire. A scourge. Families run with children in arms as their homes tumble down behind them, some falling victim to Imperial fire, some being ushered to safety by the already overwhelmed CDU ground forces. In the background, a large walker falls to the ground powerless, victim to enemy fire, however there is not shortage of refreshment as the seemingly endless Imperial forces continue the onslaught chillingly. Whitney slaps down her visor with quick speed as she faces the approaching Imperial forces. Her movements smooth and agile as she drops to one knee and fires the smoke bomb in the direction of the Imperial. She does not of course stop at that. Instead she wipes up her Bi-Polar and viciously fires at the approaching Imperial soldiers. Shrieks of impending terror hail down from the beckoning night that will soon be among the people below. The shrieks of terror, the screaming engines of TIE Interceptors, grow louder as time moves on. Mere seconds, the difference between a narrow miss and a scorching death from a blaster bolt that would deliver one unto to fiery depths of hell and beyond, are all it takes for the silhouette of four Interceptors to drift eerily down from the sky - their diamond formation dropping down slightly to lay waste to a collective of apartments that no doubt would inflame all those inside that seek it for protection. Pulling away rapidly, they split into two flights of two as the search starts for another targets to acquire and destroy. Ken stands in the AT-AT with Veers. He pulls down the scope to scan the battlefield. When the smoke screen raise in the battle field Ken laughs and shakes his head, "Smoke Screen...." He has to catch breath, "What kind of primitive stupidity" He turns to his com, "Scmitar, Eyecandy Menuver." Then he grins at the Veers. Stormtrooper, 3rd Legion continues to march and fire despite the heavy return shots coming from the Casparian defense forces. The Stormtroopers' fire is not quite accurate but due to the tremendous amount of blaster shots emanating from this Legion, the precision seems to be much higher. The heavy smoke filling the air does not seem to slow the shock troops' advance in the least. They flood over the bridge with a seemingly unstoppable force; as men in white armor fall, more appear to take their place. The troopers are intent on finishing their objective and choose their targets very impartially, everything and everyone is fair game. the Scmitar are back again. They screams down from the high heavens toward the living hell of battlefield. But this time they didn't drop any bombs or missiles. Instead they formed into line abreat and screamed maximum speed over the head of the field at bearly tree top. The super sonic speed bring with them a great wind that carried away the smoke into the enemy rear. The sound also cause damadges to enemy unprotected. The 34rd LEgion suddenly stand up and open up several hundred high power search light into the face of the CDU force with their night vision equipment. They infentry charged forward with gun balsting. They intend to take advantge of the enemy who are inconvinent by their own cleverness. A speeder bike is hit and burst into flames by a talented marksman of the CDU Rangers it would appear, as the bike slams into the wall and although it is obvious who is taking the most casualties here, it is also obvious who is designed to use this to their tactical advantage in battle. General Veers understands this from atop the bridge in Blizzard 1 but says nothing. Nodding absently to Ken his attention is fixed on the many and various readouts before him. The advance continuing, the General speaks into his com device as an adjacent walker takes a heavy hit that leaves a large black scar and rather prominent indentation, "105th target those Hammerhead tanks." His voice is cold and surgical, and if there is any adrenaline then he does not betray it. As a Stormtrooper callously shoots a running child, the screams of the child abruptly cut shot in the chaos. Commander Calder swerves in the direction and shoots down the stormtrooper. The bright lights was nothing, considering the night vision goggles were able to compensate for that effect, giving the marines a relatively clear vision. She watches the advancing Imperial forces for a second as though contemplating her decision before she comms in to the Marines, signalling for the front line to remain and the back line to retreat, "Take your squandron and retreat one south. I repeat retreat one south." She nods towards Gunny Sung who seems to be acting oodly, "Prepare heavy artillery and rocket launchers. Out front now." She states coldly as her intention convey to the rest of the front line of CDU marines. Working with great speed, the frontline of marines worked the shells into the rocket launchers. A signal goes down as the backfire jerks back some of the marines they fire the rockets, aiming all the rockets onto the bridge. The company of Hammerhead tanks being fired upon returns fire promptly at its attackers. The speederbikes and E-Webs don't seem to be too much of a problem, and a number of the mentioned units soon stop checking in. The AT-STs and AT-ATs are a bit of a problem though. Three AT-STs fall to enemy fire. In one platoon of four tanks, the problem is made clear as an AT-AT crushes a tank with its armored foot. The three remaining tanks shoot back, crippling one of the giant machines feet. The rest of the company retreats southward, turrents towards the north and still firing as they retreat south. Perfect example of a fighting retreat. After taking many Imperial speederbikes and several AT-STs, and one AT-AT down, they leave the effective laser range. They each shoot off a single missile towards the Imperial forces, effectively destroying seven more AT-STs and one AT-AT. STARFIGHTER: SubPro-CDMC Harpoon -- Royal 5 is unaffected by the Imperial ingenuity, his cockpit canopy designed to shield his eyes from the bright flashes of starfighters exploding in space. With Royal 6 following just off his port wing, Royal 5 hurtles back towards the Command AT-AT, trying to take out the brain of this Imperial beast. Still jinking and twisting like a greased Hutt, the Harpoon shudders and shakes from near misses and concussive bursts of Imperial ground fire. The target, Veer's Command vehicle, gets closer and closer to two intrepid Caspar fighters as they vector in, their launchers waiting for the tone of a good missile lock. Again using the general broadcast frequency, Royal 5's pilot says grimly "Make this one count Royal 6...." No sooner do the words leave his mouth than Royal 5 erupts into a ball of flame as the sheer volume of Imperial fire takes it's toll and hits home. Royal 5's scream if agony is heard for a millisecond before the transmission is suddenly cut off. Royal 5 is all that remains of the defending fighters now, and continues to streak towards Veers, it's pilot waiting for the last moment to take the invader out. Over the comm the youthful pilot says in a grimly satisfied voice "Time to die, Imperial" spitting out missiles as his own bird is hammered by the AT-STs defending the behemoth. Trailing dense black smoke, the Harpoon struggles to stay aloft, one engine on fire and the other flaring intermittently. Alas, the missiles fired are off target, their trajectory skewed by the sudden lurch of the fighter-bomber as it is mortally hit. The armoured vehicle besides Veers craft blows itself to pieces and the second missile merely scatters a concentration of Stormtroopers. Royal 5 begins its rapid descent behind Imperial lines, it's nose vainly trying to rise before it plows into the ground to slide to a smoking, shattered halt. _Guard your elders and children well / Send these bastards back to hell! / We'll teach them the ways of war / They won't come here any more / Use your blaster, use your head / Fight till everyone is dead / Raise the flag up to the sky / How many of them can we make die?!_ Shenner doesn't know quite when the lyrics to the "March of Tanaab" start sounding off in the back of her mind, complete with the sounds of her band-mates' instruments laying down the pounding martial rhythm -- including the drums of Loren Jarnes, now serving in another platoon of the CDU ground forces -- and their voices backing up her own in piercing chorus, including that of Rekkie Sheldon. The now _dead_ Rekkie Sheldon. Shenner's rifle blasts out a fatal rhythm over the top of this internal song of war, and it's because of the passing at the collective hands of the Empire of one of the few people in the galaxy she calls friend that the musician in soldier's garb and gear applies herself with vicious intent to shooting any white-armored figures in her line of sight. Never mind military training. Never mind whether she has no 'official' combat experience. Never mind that she isn't native to Caspar and that she's spent a good chunk of her life hiding out from the Empire on the world on which she was actually born. She has declared this war _hers_. _This is for Caspar, you sons of bitches. This is for -Rekkie-._ Only when Calder's order is directed her way does a portion of her attention alert her: look sharp, street rat, she's talking to _you_! "You heard the lady!" she bellows. A singer's lungs lend a credible amount of force to the call, and if eyebrows go up again at the fact that that growled command from 'Sung' is _not_ delivered in Sergeant Sung's proper voice, it's impossible to tell under the helmets and visors that shield the faces of the CDU Marines. The girl in Sung's uniform and several of the soldiers around her scramble for their missile launchers... and Shenner is only a fraction slower than one of the seasoned veterans of the platoon, as she deliberately pauses a heartbeat to see what _he_ does before she leaps into place with her rifle to give him cover fire while he sends rockets snarling forth into the fray. Devyn runs to the rapidly retreating line. His squad comes skidding to a halt as the full scene unfolds about them. Stopping a retreating soldier, he asks. "What's going on? Why are we retreating?" The Private hems and haws a little bit before running south. Devyn waves his men to move to the southeast and try to hold the stormtroopers as the artillery fires. Many times in Caspar had she seen such a scene, children being taken advantage of. She has always pride herself to be a defender of children. The sight of the callous killing of the Imperial redden the haze in front of her eyes as she merticulously prepares her launcher for the assult. Rage boils up in her as she fires a rocket in the direction of the advancing troop and quickly slams another in her launcher and fires again. LCP Whitney was forcefully pulled away as the CDU start to retreat, Calder's voice ringing in her ears, "We'll get those bastards later, Let's go!" Rodo looks towards the group of troopers around him. "Alright you heard the commander. Fall back!" He continues to fire his bi-polar towards the ST's which are advancing. He stops firing for a brief moment, and runs to the rest of his group of troopers. Once he reaches them, he turns around and fires towards the ST's again. He stops firing for a brief second to reload, then fire some more before heading south with the rest of the Marines. The well-trained marines merticulously filed back into the area. Their blasters were still firing upon the advancing Imperial forces as they backpedalled. The front flank of the marines suffered losses as heavy fire from an AT-ST took out a couple of them. The remaining hammerhead tanks continue to plod backwards into the area as they resumed their positions. The CDU marines were joined by the contingency forces made up of a few civilians and citizens as they too came in to join the well-experience soldiers. This time , it was fight to survive as they watch their families, their friends, their children being systematically eliminated by the Imperial forces as though they were bugs. STARFIGHTER: SubPro-CDMC Harpoon -- Royal 5 settles to a halt, it's undercarriage buckled, it's wings smashed and bent. Only it's repulsors saved it from disintegrating as it landed. The cracked cockpit fills with smoke as the aircraft begins to burn though, it's ruptured fuel tanks making the bird blaze away. The pilot seems to be trying to get out of the deathtrap, but seems to be having trouble opening the twisted cockpit. Rodo continues to fire, at the advancing Imperial forces. He takes up position behind the side of a building, as many of the other marines do. He hooks up a cable to the scope on his carbine, and pulls down a visor. He holds the carbine to the edge of the wall, and starts to fire having fairly good accuracy, as he shoots towards the ST's. Whitney is jerked back to the ground as she is dumped unceremoniously by the marine that has held onto her, the marine states clearly, "Control yourself Lance Corporal, we need everybody to be in control..." and his words were abruptly cut off as fire from a StormTrooper effectively takes off his head. She looks around and scampers to the back. The armored figure comes to Rodo's side using its maneuvering jets. From the voice emitters come the words, "Hey there sir," in a suprisingly calm voice which preceeds the launch of a fragmentation grenade into the mist of the stormtroopers. Before the smoke clears, the carbine attatched to the suit's hand starts chattering, pouring rounds into the Imperial forces. Raj soon ducks down as beam comes near, passing just over his head. Raj then says to Rodo, "Sir, our boys our scattered all over hell and one squad is on the verge of being overrun completely. We've got bad losses, Slater and Vryce are both dead. Lindz wasn't watching and a sniper got him. Orders, sir?" An Imperial shell bursts nearby and Raj more or less dumps them both into a nearby foxhole. Clock Tower and its surrounding buildings might as well be a beacon in the night for the TIE Interceptor Squadron, Iscariot. Its wing of four fighters pierce the sky with green fire, shattering the surface of the bell tower before peeling off and circling for another attack run. Although the tower itself has no tactical purposes, it will be no doubt, a demoralising attack on the citizens below. A stray shot burns through the solar wing of the port Tie in the lead group and with its stabilisers stricken, the fighter loses altitude and gaining, it seems, endless barrages of small arms fire for its trouble. With impassiveness only instilled into the pilots of the Imperial Navy, the other three TIEs continue with their mission as the dying interceptor plunges from the sky from another blast that pieces the cockpit. Spiralling down with the wail of a banshee, the pilot, if out of supreme control or reflexes from a corpse, pushes the joystick forward, into a column of tanks. Above the resulting fire and flame, the three remaining TIEs form an echelon left formation as a Harpoon fighter lands near by. Streamlining into line astern formation, the TIES begin their deadly strafing run on the downed CDU Starfighter. Ken listens to the battle reports and frowns, "Damne those rebels. They cost us too much for the fun," He turn to Veers, "General, hold your troops back. The enemy no longer get much of Air cover. I will order an all out attack by the fighters. We will take out their Tank and heavy equipment first. Then the All Terran Vechile can come in and saughter the infentry." He then turns and give the order for the fighter to attack. General Veers stands above in his Walker watching quietly the action below. Momentarily, a flash of light brightens the sky in front of him and a fighter squadron make an attack on his Walker squadron resulting in the destruction of two fighters and the irreperable damage of the adjacent walker. Watching quietly the General watches intently, hands behind his back, only the deathly white of his knuckles behind his back betraying the anger at the loss of his fallen comrades. Straightening he pulls down the gunnery scope from above his command chair and squints into it his face now wearing a significantly more angered expression. Looking through the scope his aim comes to rest on a n enemy fighter meandering it's way through the barrage of blaster fire at crackneck speed. Without a moment of hesitation he quickly targets and says "Fire" dryly to his gunner as he sends two bolts hurtling towards a target that they manage to find and obliterate in a carcophony of light and sound. The ship explodes immeadiately taking it's valiant pilot with it. Shifting his eyes to outside the command module the General watches expressionlessly, his head tilted back in an 'I ain't going out like that' manner As this occurs the Imperial advance operates concurrently as the battle below rages, a hideous mix of armor white, camoflague green, fire glow and charcoal black, explosions take place all around now as the battle continues unrestrainedly. The landscape now is as all before it, broken, heavily damaged buildings with walls missing, trees but blackened stumps and the ground littered with shrapnel and the dead. This once beautiful sector has been reduced to ruins, but this is obviously not a deterent to the relentless Imperial war machine. the The 43rd Legions was already with in range of the CDU troops. But they suddenly stoped their advance and in a dew places even pulled back a little in a few places. They starts to lie down covering fire to force the CDU troops from raise their head. STARFIGHTER: SubPro-CDMC Harpoon -- Royal 5 shudders and shakes as the green bolts fired from the TIEs begin to strike it and the ground around it. As the flames flare even more brightly around the stricken craft, the canopy burts open and up as the pilot decides to risk ejecting. Seconds later the TIEs hit the crafts remaining missiles and what's left of the fighter explodes with a horrifically loud report. The pilot's ejection seat arcs upwards over the battlefield, before gently dropping itself and it's motionless, smouldering occupant to the questionable safety of the battlefield again Many Stormtroopers fall while crossing the bridge as Casparian artillery is fired into their ranks. The Legion appears to at last be taking "significant losses", although the phrase is practically unknown in the Imperial ranks. None the less, the troopers in the 3rd Legion do not pause in their march but instead focus more fire on the heavier weapons as the front lines of the troops finally reach the opposite side of the bridge. The Legion follows after the retreating defense forces into a new section of town and continues to destroy mercifully. The fierceness of their fire seems to increase as the goal of the attack force reaches closer to its completion. ST 10th Legion increases the rate of fire as the starfighter bursts into flames. Several troopers turn their fire on the ejection seat, firing relentlessly. The rest of them continue to lay bolt after bolt into the CDU troops. Daxin fires several shots into the frey and then moves to the front of his legion and begins to direct some of his own blaster fire to the newly ejected pilot of the starfighter. After that he turns his attention back to the Caspar troops. the Scimitar is coming. This time they get compnays. Hundreds upone hudreds of Imperial fighters and bombers fall down upon the CDU forces as ravens upon dead meat. Their main targets are the tank and other heavy support weapons the CDU had left. A rain of missiles and blaster come before them as they waves in clock screw and firing none stop at their target. A few fighters fall and a couple more destroyed by friendly fire. But the vast majority of them get throught to the enemy and hammered their target again and again. The CDU tanks and artillery shakes like trees in a typone vianly seeking to save themselves. But there is no escape as first one by one then group by group of CDU's heavy armoer and artillery are blown up. The TIEs left the battlefield as the grasshappers left the farmland. Behind them is nothing but burned out steel and the moans of dying people. A squad of faceless Stormtroopers detatch from the main group. Blasters in hand, and running as quickly as possible they run to cover behind a once beautiful but not mostly demolished buidling, led by their Seargent distinguished by the recognizable orange leader sash. Motioning the men with a series of open handed signals known only by members of the group, the men fall to ground and lay a cover fire for a pair of Stormtroopers that run out of cover and dodge blaster bolts and grenade explosions all around them to capture and badly wounded Dayth. This is alot like training. Grabbing him they drag him out of the wreckage and halfway to cover before one of the troopers is hit and crumples to the ground with a groan. Most observers would wonder why all the trouble to capture this man while so may have been killed. He must be of some importance. The squad hold their position as their leader initates a dialogue with his commanders. Commander Calder is observing the scene closely to the front, using binoculars for a not so obvious reason. She only needs to listen to the radio to hear the reports of units being overrun. Some units aren't checking in at all. Then a sound comes from the radio near her. It is Imperially accented basic, probably from a captured radio. The Imp says, "Lieutenant Reese wishes to tell you that he cannot currently report." A shot is heard in the background a Calder tightens her grip on the radio and says defiantly back into it, "After this war is over, the only place Imperial accents will be heard in is hell." She swivels towards her ops officer and says, "Tell all units to withdraw, but let's make them pay for each centimeter of our ground. I repeat, all units, fighting withdrawal!" _Who the hell is--_ "That isn't Sergeant Sung!" "Who the nine blazing--" Startled reactions both thought and sharply hissed ripple across the rank and file of Webb's platoon as it begins to sink in that the slender figure wearing Sung's field gear is _not_ the person to whom it was assigned. She doesn't move quite like Sung, and she undeniably does not talk like her. Only the fact that this interloper in the platoon's midst is wielding and firing her blaster rifle with apparent deadly accuracy, once or twice scoring direct hits on the oncoming enemy... and the fact that this is war, these are soldiers, and there is absolutely _no time_ to confront the stranger... prevent any of the ground troops immediately nearest Shenneret Veery from getting in the way of her and her targets. Behind enemy lines presents all sorts of dangers, but, on the other hand, Webb is now looking at a lot of rear echelon Imperial personnel, and the backs of the front echelons as his tiny element which got seperated from the rest of the recon platoon 'advances' southwards, pausing occasionally when confronted by a 'prime target'... delicate communication systems on command vehicles, Imperial officers who dare to ride unbuttoned in their vehicles, or who find themselves exposed to the fire which comes from unexpected angles. His element is actually able to annihiliate an entire platoon as it rushes up to join the fray... over all of the blaster fire, a well placed shot to the unlucky ST at the tail end of the line easily went un-noticed, until the point man was also the 'tail end Charlie' of the formation. He had been homing on Reese's com-signal, while keeping his own transmissions silent, or low-powered as possible to avoid interception. Now, as he hears the Imperial officer reporting Lt. Reese's demise, he has finally gotten a fix upon Reese's position. He can see the ST officer speaking into the dead Marine's comlink... through the crosshairs of the scope on his E-11 of course. Not bothering to dwell upon Reese's apparent demise, he takes the shot himself, from the concealment of the crumbled remains of an old stone building... While the comlink is still open, the ST's leg vanishes in a puff of red, leaving him standing there awkwardly grasping the comset, before Webb all too casually plucks off an arm with his next shot, then places a third straight through the ST's stomach, finally knocking the man down, leaving him screaming into to both the CDU comchannel, and into whatever Imperial channel the man may have had open. A company of hammerheads is left untouched by the airstrikes, due to the fact the company is very well camoflauged. Two AT-STs come near their positions, still unaware of their presence...And die. The lead AT-ST is catches the full force of a dozen blasts and is killed. The second is looking for the source of the sudden assault, more of an ambush. While the head is traversing, it dies too. Ten bursts hit it, followed by two more. Both AT-STs are down, and the Hammerhead company is in the midst of the Imperial formation. Imperial artillery unwisely fires four shots...Into the midst of their own forces. STs fall due to their own artillery fire. The Hammerheads are untouched and start laying destruction into the Imperial formation while fighting for a way out. Small arms fire clatters against the tanks to no avail. Soon, one Hammerhead dies falling to an Imperial bomber. The same Imperial bomber soon explodes, hit by several Hammerheads. They continue to fight for a way out, running over hundreds of Imperial troops in the process. In the back of her mind, Shenner notes the reactions of her temporary comrades-in-arms, and a small voice of reason points out dryly, _Street rat, you are going to be in -such- trouble!_ But for the time being, she doesn't care. Her world has narrowed down to a simple, repeating rhythm of aim and shoot, aim and shoot, her rifle spewing forth accented blasts against the ominous earth-rattling percussion of the Imperial walkers. When the orders come down to fall back she does so, but each centimeter of ground she yields is only under duress -- and further rounds of fire from the gun gripped firmly in her musician's hands. Elly is next to Webb behind the rubble looking around behind the sight of her shotgun. A small dot is on the hud of her helmet where the barrel of her AA-8 is pointed. She looks around the scene carefully seeing if she can spot any dangers or possible oppertunities. After scanning around for a few moments she says quietly to Webb, "Sir, I think I've spotted one one of the leader types, the orange sash," the dot on in the hud pointed right at his back, near where the heart would be. Rodo lands in the foxhole with Raj on top of him. He pushes the Sergeant off "You alright?" he asks. Using the scope which is attatched to helmet Rand checks the area around the foxhole. He turns to the Sergeant "I think we better move back, alert the rest of the team to fall back." Checking one more time to see if there is any ST around, he says "Fal back Sergeant, I'll give you cover fire then I'll be on my way back." He waits for Raj to get up and go, before leaving. Raj nods to Rodo. He jets out of the hole, shooting back occasionally. He says through his comlink, "Fall back. Mantain resistance, though." He heads back, drops behind a large rock, and peeks around the rock waiting for Rodo to come. A target comes up through his helmet. Raj fires a three shot burst, dropping it. The dead ST falls into Rodo's hole. soon... After much effort, one of the Imperial invasion corridors successfully pushes all of the way towards Trinumvira base, though several bypassed Marine units still harrass their rear elements, taking advantage of their superior mobility to do hit and run raids on the rear of the Imperial forces as their forces build for the attack upon Trinumvira. The fortified bluff's ruggedness seems to be accented by the fact that a 500 metre thick ring of earth has been flattened out on all sides, save for the side which faces the ocean. This ring of flattened earth has been kept quite deliberately free of heavy foiliage of any kind... the grass is perhaps 15 cm deep at the most, and save for the odd shrubbery, this patch is quite bare... The reason for this becomes readily apparent as soon as the first Imperial forces cross into this field. This ring is an area which the base's defenders can easily fire on from the cover of the bluff, while the enemy is deprived of cover for its own advance. Heavy fire of all kinds from the bluff begins to erupt almost immediately as the first Imperial Forces advance into view. Heavy blaster cannons, concussion missile artillery, light automatic fire, and even AAA guns smash into the Imperial wave. The defenders are patient enough to wait until the bulk of the advance armor elements are halfway through the kill zone before the anti-armor mines begin to activate. The mines seem to have a taste for walkers of all sorts, as they sniff for the IR and seismic signatures of their prey crossing overhead, at which point the mine 'detonates' launching an ion blast straight up into the belly of the walker. Meanwhile, Wraith gunships prowling among the bluff unmask briefly to snap of shots into the main Imperial advance, before slipping back into defilade. There is a faint buzzing in the background, like Alderaanian locusts during harvest season. The buzz grows slightly louder, and louder still until it is a very ominous hum. When it feels as if the buzz cannot grow louder, finally the dam bursts. Over the ridge towards the main landing zone for the Imperial Army spews forth wave after wave of Imperial Speeder Bike pilots. The cavalry has arrived. Nearly one hundred fifty tiny bikes zoom over the hill and into the streets, and above the buildings of the city. They zoom over the barriers to Triunmvera base, firing at various targets and causing general havoc. Blaster fire spews from their cannons mounted under their bellies. The platoon bypasses most of the external defenses of the base, losing only one bike to retalitory fire. Mines, Schmimes, the platoon seems to say as they're impervious to the 'I'll take the highroad' tactics of the bases defenders. In the lead is Lieutenant Garret Fife, a few legs ahead of his compatriots. He squeezes the trigger of his bike, and he hits a medium sized building, shattering hundreds of square feet of glass. Shards of glass rain down on Casparian Defense Force troops, killing three and injuring about seven. In fact, not a single anti-armor mine detonates for the scout bikes... they are looking for bigger game. Daxin runs in at full speed, leading a squad he picked from the 10th Legion, leaving the rest of the troops outside to watch the door. He directs his squad to continue firing on the retreating Capspar marines. Suddenly, there is an explosion of glass overhead that is defelcted harlessly by their armor. Daxin yells, "Keep pressing, and watch the crossfire from those bikes!!" He takes careful aim at one of the foremost troopers and depresses his firing stud with deadly precsion, droping the troop where he stood. Following the retreating Casperian forces, the 3rd Legion slows its advance slightly as it nears the base as heavy losses begin to show in their ranks. The Stormtroopers continue to fire while marching but the shots are a bit more accurate and are fired less often; the troopers are seemingly starting to take their time with their attacks. With the recent reinforcements via Imperial Speederbikes boosting the attack force's numbers, the 3rd Legion Stormtroopers continue to march forward directly into the Casparian defenses, annihilating all which stand between them and the base. One Stormtrooper, indecipherable from the rest save for extensively scorched armor and slightly crushed helmet, fires along with his comrades but with more accuracy and power than most. The trooper wields a ST-II and he uses it to blast any hostiles that come into view. He seems to have had a little more training than the rest of the men in his Legion but he remains in formation and so is hard to pick out. It appears much of the military philosophies of the Imperial Navy were taken from the Imperial Army. Overwhelming the enemy seems to be a practice the Army has perfected, as the stormtroopers and speeder bikes make short work of a small ammo dump. Ammo - being an explosive - tends to burn. And burn it does. A miniature mushroom cloud thirty meters tall dominates the backarea of the bases as laser fire from a speeder bike incinerates it. The 43rd Legion charges forward as One. They finaly break their long silence and yelled the Battle Cry and throw themselves upon the defense of the CDU. Waves of them fall down before the deadly fire of the CDU defense. But alway waves replaced them. And their death is not wihtout price. Here and there CDU's defenders fall down. Here and there, fix defense installation get blow up by imperial engineer. But defender is not slacking off either. They killed and kill, screeming at the waves of white death dear the imperials to kill them. The imperials are dying but their Will can not be broken. A Storm Trooper command was blown up. The helmed fall off and show a beautiful young woman with long blonde hair. Then she vanishes amount the sea of death. The Imperials are crazied now. They had surffered so much lose already. Anything less than Total Victory is Unacceptable. They carrried their attack forward with their blast, their knifes and thir fist. Wave after wave after wave... In a display of arrogance tinged confidence more than anything else, General Veers himself strides in from a safe distance, a large, undamaged squad of troopers in tow that you would consider his personal guard. They are bent on protecting him and betray this through the way they each watch his every move through the lenses of their unpersonifiable helmets. The General is tapped into a communication system and his every mannerism seems to express the faith he has in his men to complete the mission. Dressed in spotless grey assault armor designed for heavy protection, his hair has not even been ruffled, a sweat not even broken. One knee on the blackened ground, and his left hand at his ear assisting the communication unit he is using, he seems to be relaying information to the troops themselves. A true strategist...on the ground with his men! He watches with wary eyes the action going on around him, pausing momentarily, eyebrow cocked as the chared remains of a CDU Ranger hit the ground with a thud meters from where he is standing. The body, thrown from the wreckage of a vehicle of some sort, lies on the ground motionless, a metaphor, Veers quietly thinks to himself, for the entire CDU. Ken walks behind Veers with his onw guard. Those guards unlike the rest Imperial Forces are black clayed Naval Troopers instead of Storm Troopers. They made a stark contraction in the sea of white. Ken shakes his head at the dead and the dying all around him. He turns to his aide, "The battle is almost finished. Inform the fleet to be ready for casaulties. I want medical teams get down here ASAP." 'Those who are too eager to die can be easily killed', echoes in Webb's mind over and over as he watches the Imperial wave surge forth. The tiny force that he'd lead through from the rear has since grown in strength as he first met up with the survivors from Lt. Reese's unit, and several others, growing first into a full platoon, then easily into a Company, then bigger still as his forces met up with several platoons from the Union Dragoons. After that, they found themselves racing back towards Trinumvira with Calder's command, in many cases parallelling the enemy advance that had broken through and surged past them. Thankfully, a Hammerhead is able to outrun a walker, and the Caspian forces, with the aid of a few delaying actions, were able to make it to Trinumvira just ahead of the Imperial forces. The bluffs provide more than adequate protection for Caspian troops... bunkers for infantry, prepared firing positions for tanks, and thick permacrete barriers capable of shrugging off many heavy weapon blasts before finally buckling. Here the CDU shall show its own comparative advantage. While the Empire has single minded determination, the CDU has adaptability on its side. After plan A, there's always plan B, then plan C, then... IMPROVISE! When things turn desperate, the Empire launches suicidal charges... Marines simply fight smarter. The bluff does afford some room to evade. Webb himself can be found upon the ledges overlooking the the slit carved deep into the bluffs, alongside McFarlane and Shenner and Whitney and others. He personally fires into the horde of advancing speederbikes... though doubtlessly they probably don't want to get to the high ground. After all, as nimble as the little craft may be, sitting atop the bluff with many Wraiths buzzing about would be a horribly suicidal place to make a last stand. Not that most are getting up there anyways. Instead, ambush is the rule... directional mines spit fans of steel shrapnel, cutting away whole arcs of speederbikes, while the Hammerheads that he came back to base with fire volleys of blaster fire and concussion missiles into the crumbling armor as it stumbles and falls amidst the field of antiarmor mines. Command elements are the most tempting targets, for snipers, for autoblaster teams, for any weapon that can be trained upon the enemy. Webb himself uses his customized E-11 to good effect in this role... if it has an orange sash, it dies... well, actually, he's taken a preference towards shooting to wound lately. It is, after all, more costly upon the Imperial logistics train, and it tends to bring forth enemy medics into target range. There is cover out in the kill zone now... consisting of the shredded hulks of walkers, the tattered remains of ST's. And there is, of course, retreat. The LPC moves swiftly to join the other engineers. Under the cover from the heavy assult from the base, the engineers worked swiftly as Whitney counts under her breath, "10..." swifting whipping out hanging from her waist, "8.." arming them and laying them down as she moves on swiftly to the next position. By the time she has counted down to 0, the efficient engineers had placed anti-armor mines to provide a second land of defense. They were not without casualties as blaster fire clips a few of them. Finishing, the team moves off in the direction of the base for cover, that's if the Imperial forces are able to bypass the thick security of Triumnvera. The Marines never leave anything to chance. _Blasters flash, the cannons swing / Shining armor's piercing ring / Skimmers race with an ion shield / Fight those bastards till they yield! / Fight in squads or fight alone / Fight to keep this world your own! / Sound the klaxon, call the cry / How many of them can we make die?!_ And Shenner thought Mandalore was bad. A number of threats to her life occurred on Mandalore, but not a one of them was quite on par with the might of the Imperial Army. Pressed up shoulder to shoulder with Webb's platoon, the bard-turned-soldier, her heart racing on adrenaline and passion, keeps muttersinging her personal battle cry under her breath as she aims and shoots, aims and shoots, aims and shoots, and pauses only long enough to lob the occasional grenade or switch the power module on her blaster rifle. Not even when she's knocked sideways by the tail end of a nearby explosion is she deterred... though when she gets up again, her grip on her weapon shows signs of getting bloody. Ken walks up toward Veers and whispers in his ear. The Stormtroopers in the 3rd Legion continue to fight at full fury although losses are definitely affecting their overall performance. The troopers halt for a moment as enemy fire takes out a large amount of men in the Legion. They regroup into a new, more compact formation and then continue to march. The Stormtrooper in heavily damaged armor fires a few more aimed shots at the Casparian forces before he breaks off from the rest of his Legion. Undetected by the other troopers around him, he takes a moment to check his blaster rifle's charge and then moves quickly towards General Veers and his escort. Any enemies that he finds between himself and the General are swiftly cut down by blaster fire from his ST-II. Tide in. Tide out. The waves of speeder bikes, led by Lieutenant Fife display a massive shift of momentum. There blaster cannons still rage violently, picking targets and putting them down. There numbers are cut in half however, and it appears it is time to make a break for the sea. The ocean beacons the speeder pilots who cut out, and swoop down and around the rocky cliffs, making their way along the coast line north. On their way out, each pilot takes a crack at someone or something. Daxin orders his men to keep firing. AS some of his men have been killed, they regroup to form a more cohesive unit. They seem to be starting to conserve balster charges now, but that start to make each shot count, cutting down a marine with each deadly red bolt. He places his left hand to his ear to sort out comm static, nods quickly and takes a few well aimed shots of his own. Some of his men move back to strengthen Veers' troops. The General turns to Ken, regarding him quietly for a moment before looking up at the indomitable mountainside and nodding a silent permissive understanding. Bringing himself to his feet, and brushing himself down briskly, Veers seemingly oblivious to the continious explosions all around is in his element -in battle-. Anyone within spitting distance can see the wheels of complex thought turning inside the Generals head, the microdecisions being made for a quick moment before looking directly into the eyes of Ken he offers in a low voice tinged with a Coruscanti accent "Have your men wipe this place from the earth." It is obvious through his demeanor that the General does not like to compromise, but even the great Veers knows when enough is enough, when tactical single-mindedness becomes all out pyrric bloodlust. Turning back to regard the mountain coldy he continues with a clinical death knell "Kill them all." Retreating over the ocean is actually an incredibly nasty option for the speederbikes... it requires plumetting over a sheer cliff, and hoping like hell that the repulsorlifts kick in again before the speeder hits waves or rock. Many don't manage the dive properly. As the formation retreats out over the water, a pair of Wraith airspeeders nimbly slips down from the bluffs, heading off into wavetop flight, liesurely jinking back and forth as they hammer the retreating speederbikes, until they are forces to scatter. The shark's teeth on the side's of the speeders is at this moment a very good analogy. Webb naturally conserves shots, taking the attitude of the executioner, coldly firing single aimed shots, cutting down everything missed by the repeaters that are still raking over the kill zones, tearing up earth and flesh. Webb seems to have a thing for stomach wounds... which aren't instantly lethal like his previously characteristic throat shots, but instead leave the enemy laying on the field, twitching extreme pain. In his days as an NCO, he'd hit targets as far out as 1.3 km... almost three quarters of a mile. Back when he was with Blake's fleet, rampaging among the stars, he'd drop onto a planet, stalk an Imperial Battalion, or even a regiment, locate its HQ Company... the memory drifts back into his mind as he focusses his scope up Veers, of an Imperial Colonel named Voss. Voss never knew he was out there... the Colonel had himself ordered the execution of countless civilians who could not defend themselves. Webb's conscience stayed clean when he pulled the trigger, and executed Voss from another time zone. Now, his trigger finger is moving again, as Veers' image resolves itself in his scope, amidst the swirl of heat contours in the air. Finally, Webb lets off a single shot, reaching out across the killing fields. All Imperial Forces, Stormtroopers, Walkers, Speeder Bikes alike, disengaged their attack. Bikes turn back, Walkers become stationary and Stormtroopers stop firing all in unision unshering the first period of quiet in a long time. The relative peace for many appears overbearing, and many troopers don't seem to be able to expudiate the rush of adrenaline from their ears and remain tense their guns trained on the mountain at large. For the survivors of the conflict there has been a metamorphosis take place, boys become men, men reduced to boys. While battle it is said brings out the worst in man, it could also equally be argued that it brings out the best in people. Camaradarie, reliance and trust in your fellow man. There is a sense of weary victory sweeping over the battle field, but has the Empire won. What remains of the earth is a scorched reminder of what a beautiful place this once was, and what the ravages of war can bring so quickly on a place that at one time appeared it would last for ever. Either way the brave warriors of the Empire know that it is not over and remain wary waiting for an opportunity to at last complete their regent given orders. Meanwhile General Veers stands his ground, watching pensively up at the mountain. Only a fool would interupt him now. Placing his hands behind his back he watches quietly, before mysteriously sensing danger and ducking. --Too late-- A bright, dagger sharp blast strikes the General in the arm, sending him reeling back and down onto one knee in pain. Looking at the ground blood can be seen oozing from his arm. He remains quiet. The legion of Stormtroopers surrounding him open fire with a fury straight from hell as if Webb had shot the Empire himself, but the sniper was long gone having at least partially completed his mission. Veers struggles to his feet, dismissing the aid for him guards and turns in a rare expression of anger, heading back towards his walker, pushing medics off as he leaves. Anyone acquanted with Veers, knows that the sniper has just signed his own death warrant. Ken takes a look at Veers but doesn't offer any help as he know the General won't accept it. Instead he trast out his hand. A Naval Trooper immediatly give Ken a sniper rifle of his own. Ken take the rife and aims at the CDU foritfacation and opens fire twice in rapid succession. One unlucky soul of CDU falls from their position to the ground blow dead before they hit the dirt. None of them may be the sniper. But that teaches the CDU for attampt on an imperial officer. General Veers wounded, the Imperial forces take the opportunity to withdraw from the fight... but only far enough to keep the battle-weary CDU Marines cornered in the base into which they have retreated. To be continued... Imperial Assault on Caspar